Katelyn Weisbrod | June 7, 2018

After Tuesday’s primary election, the race for Iowa governor has been narrowed down to two contenders — incumbent Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, and retired businessman and Democratic nominee Fred Hubbell.

The election is still a few months away, but it’s not too early to compare the two candidates. Here’s a breakdown of their stances on environmental issues.

Gov. Kim Reynolds

Reynolds’ campaign website does not give any indication of her stances on environmental issues. But, she has been the governor of Iowa since May 2017, when former Gov. Terry Branstad vacated the position, allowing then-Lt. Gov. Reynolds to assume the helm.

Looking at the past year of Reynolds’ leadership, she has signed two notable bills relating to the environment.

One, Senate File 2311, signed May 4, changed some laws surrounding utilities, and aimed to extend natural gas into rural areas and increase transparency for utility customers.

The Iowa Environmental Council criticized this bill, stating it “guts energy efficiency programs and allows municipal utilities to discriminate against solar energy customers.”

Second, Reynolds signed Senate File 512 on Jan. 31, a $282 million allocation for improving Iowa’s water quality.

“This law is a significant step in the right direction and should ignite a continuing conversation as we work to make a positive impact on water quality in Iowa,” Reynolds said in a statement after she signed the bill.

The Des Moines Register reported, however, that the funding was merely a “drop in the bucket” compared to the estimated $4 billion needed to make a difference in Iowa’s water quality.

The Iowa Environmental Council also condemned this bill for taking a “business as usual” approach and lacking the scientific basis and financial resources needed for substantial change.

Former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, however, supported the bill. also issued a statement on SF 512, he said the funding will allow the Department of Agriculture to expand investment in locally led water quality projects in targeted watersheds, while also giving farmers and landowners statewide a chance to try practices focused on water quality.

“Passage of this long-term water quality funding bill with bipartisan support is a tremendous next step as we work to continue scaling up the water quality efforts underway statewide,” he said.

Fred Hubbell

The Democratic nominee lists “environment” as one of his priorities on his campaign website. Though Hubbell has no political experience to evaluate his history of environmental policy support, his website touts his long-time advocacy for environmental issues, including supporting renewable energy initiatives while he was chairman of the Iowa Power Fund.

In an interview with Iowa Public Radio, Hubbell criticized Senate File 512 for lacking methods to monitor progress in water quality. He called for more transparent efforts to improve water quality so that Iowans can see progress being made.

“The taxpayers should be able to see whether they’re getting a return with less nutrients, less nitrates in the water, and the farmers are getting better soil, then let’s know that so taxpayers know their money is being well spent,” Hubbell said to IPR.

Natalia Welzenbach-Marcu | June 5th, 2018

Prairies are a common sight in the Midwest, but no state knows the way of prairie restoration like Iowa. Multiple organizations, many affiliated with Universities, exist solely to help preserve and restore some of Iowa’s former prairieland, as the state used to be absolutely covered with prairies. Currently, less than 0.1% percent of  Iowa’s original prairie is left.

Several local citizens dedicate their time and resources on a daily basis to help restore prairie life. Dr. Daryl Smith at the University of Northern Iowa started the Native Roadside Vegetation Center (now the Tallgrass Prairie Center), one of the largest prairie restoration centers in the country. The center focuses on scientific research, and its staff members find better ways to cultivate prairie plant growth. Further inkand, Cathy Irvine, a “citizen scientist” from Dysart, works with volunteers and students to revive a stretch of 77-acre land outside of her small town into its original prairie state.

Many of these restoration organizations have expressed their dissatisfaction with the education system and the lack of education about the most prominent feature of the Midwestern landscape. This lack of education, coupled with the challenges of a chronic lack of manpower and the high risk of wildfires that prairies often contend with, make restoring and maintaining prairie life a challenge–but it’s one that people like Dr. Smith and Cathy Irvine are more than willing to do.

Katelyn Weisbrod | June 1, 2018

How much do you know about Iowa’s legacy of conservation?

Several leaders in conservation have Iowa roots, including Jay N. “Ding” Darling, the illustrator behind the first duck stamp and a Pulitzer-Prize-winning cartoonist for the Des Moines Register, focusing his cartoons on protecting wildlife and natural resources.

Drake University currently has an exhibit featuring some of Darling’s works at Cowles Library from now until June 30. The exhibit aims to show how his cartoons helped to create policy in the United States surrounding conservation.

Neil Hamilton, director of Drake’s Agricultural Law Center, said in a video that the issues of conservation and preservation Darling was bringing light to 60 years ago are still relevant today.

Learn more about Darling and his exhibit here:

Katelyn Weisbrod | May 31, 2018

A Maryland city endured a devastating 1,000-year rainstorm this week, leading to a second flash flood of this severity to hit the town in less than two years.

On July 30, 2016, nearly six inches of rain fell in about an hour and a half in Ellicott City, Maryland, leading to a flood that devastated buildings and killed two people. On May 27, an arguably worse flood ravaged the same area.

An analysis done by The Washington Post attributed the 2018 flood to the area’s funnel-like geography, nearly 10 inches of rain, meteorological forces, and possibly climate change.

However, the analysis pointed out, climate change cannot be a simple explanation for the event that was all too familiar for the people of Ellicott City. This was a single event in a relatively small area, and climate entails long-term trends in often large areas. But increased rainfall is a side effect of climate change, and that may have exacerbated this event.

A 1,000-year rainstorm does not necessarily mean that it only happens once every 1,000 years, but rather the likelihood of it happening in a given year is one in 1,000. For this to happen in Ellicott City twice in two years is incredibly unlikely, but possible.

With climate change and limited historical data, however, it is difficult for experts to accurately determine how frequent these events may be in the future. Iowa has also had its share of devastating floods in recent years — the floods of 1993 and 2008. In some locations, the 1993 flood was considered a 100-year flood, and the 2008 flood was in some places an even more severe 500-year flood, yet they happened within just 15 years of one another.